I find it's better to take out insurance that will cover me for the year, better value.
Last year i got it from my health insurer, it was a very competitive quote. The years before I had gotten it from Justcover.ie. There are a couple of other providers out there, best to get a quote from a few, read the terms carefully then decide which one suits you best.
It was €48 last year, that covered multitrip worldwide insurance. My health provider is Quinn Healthcare. For previous years it was about €35-€40 I think, for Europe and ski cover.
annual insurance with insure.ie was 79.50 euro for a family of 5 and that included worldwide and ski holidays. glad to say i never had to claim so cant comment on that.
I came across a website lately www.uchoose.ie that compares a lot of the insurance companies on the market. I currently have my travel insurance with multitrip.com as they were half the price of vhi last year.